'Wig Out' explores the world of drag competition through the eyes of black men

Thursday

May 3, 2018 at 12:01 AMMay 3, 2018 at 4:17 PM

By R. Scott Reedy, Correspondent

Tarell Alvin McCraney got America’s full attention when “Moonlight” – based on his play “In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue” – won the 2017 Academy Award for Best Picture, and McCraney, along with screenwriter Barry Jenkins, won the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay.

As one of today’s leading playwrights, however, McCraney has been earning acclaim and respect in both the U.S. and England for well over a decade. A Yale School of Drama graduate who is now Chair of Playwriting at the school, McCraney has also become an influential voice on gender and sexuality among African-American and Latinx LGBTQ artists.

His “Brother/Sister Plays” trilogy was presented by Boston’s Company One Theatre (C1) in 2011 and went on to win the 2012 IRNE Award for Best Play. The following year, McCraney was a recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship – often called “the genius grant.”

Beginning April 26 at Oberon in Cambridge, C1, in collaboration with the American Repertory Theatre (A.R.T.), will present McCraney’s “Wig Out!” – a play about a drag ball competition which was developed at Sundance Theatre Lab and produced off-Broadway, at the Vineyard Theatre, and at London’s Royal Court, in 2008.

It is the second of three plays C1 is doing this season exploring the black male experience in America.

“We chose three black male-identifying playwrights this season. We did ‘Hype Man: A Break Beat Play’ by Idris Goodwin at the BCA earlier this year. We’re doing ‘Wig Out!’ now and, beginning in July, we’ll present ‘Leftovers,’ by Josh Wilder, at the Strand Theatre in Dorchester,” explained Summer L. Williams, who is directing the second and third plays, by telephone recently.

“Our goal this season is to show the range and diversity of the black male experience. What the mainstream media says about the black male experience is often bleak. And it’s a narrative that supports systemic racism, which is part of the foundation of our country,” according to Williams.

A co-founder of C1 and its associate artistic director, Williams believes McCraney is well suited to helping change those negative perceptions.

“There is something about his work that is outside the norm and that some may even find radical. A big part of his success, however, is that he has managed to remain himself. His aesthetic has remained his aesthetic always.

“As I see it, his aesthetic calls attention to our ability to exist in this upper realm of things that call us to ascend. We can’t help but explore the humanity of his characters. They exist on two levels – the heaven and the humanity. There is something greater at play in all his work,” says Williams.

With "Wig Out!” McCraney offers an inside look at drag ball culture through a chosen family living on their own terms in a safe, self-sustaining space they created. All is well in the House of Light until it is challenged to a surprise ball by the rival House of Di’abolique.

“This story is about ball culture, specifically involving black and brown people who are queer. There’s a real distinction between the pop-culture version of drag and the ball scene this play welcomes us into. It’s about people making a home and being free to be who they are.

“The characters are predominantly people of color. Some are transgender, others are gender non-binary, cis male or cis female, queer, or not easily labeled,” Williams points out.

Inspired by the text, she says “Wig Out!” has been cast with many fresh faces.

“I wanted to make sure we found lots of new talent not seen on Boston stages. We have lots of new BFA’s in our cast and people living the experience of their characters.”

While much of the cast may be new to them, audiences are sure to know the show’s soundtrack.

“A lot of the music is called for specifically in the script and we’ve also been able to make our own fun choices, too, mostly of R&B hits from the late ’90’s and early 2000’s. The music is so good that it’s like another character,” explains the director.

And Williams won’t mind at all if a few more characters consider themselves part of the piece.

“I hope the experience will feel fun and sort of wild. I want the audience to feel like they’ve been dropped into this world, not like they’re just watching a show. I want them to loosen up and have a good time.”